Borghi/Teager: Awaken the Electric Air

by starsendradio

There is more than one reason to take part in a live to air broadcast concert on STAR’S END Ambient Radio. Most participants think that it is a good way to get their music out to thousands of radio listeners, which it is – or that this activity is just the thing to do after a stimulating performance at The Gatherings Concert Series, held earlier in the evening within the nearby church sanctuary of St. Mary’s Hamilton Village. But Matt Borghi & Michael Teager used their late-night session to further explore and build upon that which was presented on their studio album Convocation. This activity surprisingly yielded the quite magical Awaken the Electric Air (55:10), an album from the recording made on STAR’S END of 20 October 2013. Borghi & Teager were the third of three distinctive live sets produced on STAR’S END that night (also appearing were Dave Luxton and Vic Hennegan). Tasked with filling the 4:00AM to 5:00AM hour Borghi & Teager’s music created the perfect atmosphere and mood to compliment this most deep and searching zone. Routing his electric guitar signal through a myriad of delays, reverbs and effects Borghi strummed, plucked and rubbed the strings of his instrument into a vast wash of gently undulating sound. Through this timbral front Teager contributed various saxophone and flute lines, beautifully reverberating into the soundfield and providing a sparse melodic narrative to bring the listener back from the slow thoughts of dreaming reverie. No synthesizers or computers were used during this realization, therefore Awaken the Electric Air possesses a rare textured density, unusual compared to the flattened spaces of digital music. In their serious play Borghi & Teager lift the audience to a different place. A night time companion, small of gesture, large of heart, this album is subtle and in places moving – as it rescues us from the darkest corners of our own being.